There are two references to Mary in "Nostra Aetate" [the 1965
declaration on the relation of the Church to Non-Christian religions].

The first notes that Muslims "also honor Mary, his virgin Mother; at
times they even call on her with devotion" (NA, 3). The second
emphasizes the Jewish roots of Jesus and his mother quoting Paul "about
his kinsmen: 'theirs is the sonship and the glory and the
covenants and the law and the worship and the promises; theirs are the
fathers and from them is the Christ according to the flesh' (Romans
9:4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary" (NA, 4).

Since Vatican II, the main areas of Mariological research in other
religions have been in Judaism where the symbol "Daughter of Zion" has
been studied and on the place of Mary in Islam (see "The Virgin Mary in
Intellectual and Spiritual Formation," [VMISF],
Congregation for Catholic Education, March 25, 1988; No. 15). [The link
is to a University of Dayton Web site.-- Editor's note.]

Covenant is the principal biblical teaching about the relationship
between God and his people. Von Balthasar proposes that God?s plan of
salvation is originally formulated in terms of a symbolic couple (I. De
la Potterie, "Mary in the Mystery of the Covenant,"
Paulist, New York 1992: Paulist; p. 26). This is expressed in the
marriage relationship between Christ and the Church in New Testament
teaching.

In the Jewish scriptures, the covenant between God and his people is
often expressed in terms of a marriage bond. Israel is cast as the bride
in the theme of "Daughter of Zion" a theme which is also expressed as
"Mother Zion" and "Virgin Israel." Now these
terms are applied to Mary in the New Testament especially by Luke and
John (ibid., p. 36).

In this way, Mary provides a link between the two Testaments. She also
links them within her person for it is from this Jewish maiden that
Jesus is born and God?s revelation of a new covenant begins. Mary
symbolizes both continuity and discontinuity between
the old and the new covenants. The application of these Old Testament
symbols to her and the incarnation of the Word within her both maintain
God's covenant with his people and renew it and bring it to completion
in Jesus.

The Koran has 34 verses which name Mary. This is more than there are in
the New Testament. While she is not venerated in the same way as in
Christianity, where Mary is Mother of God, "Theotokos," Islam honors her
as the mother of the prophet Jesus.
This gives her a special place among Muslims for the Koran teaches that
the angel said to Mary, "God has chosen you and made you pure and he has
chosen you above the women of the universe" ("The Imrans" III:42).

Dialogue should not seek to minimize the differences between Christian
and Muslim understandings about Mary. But it can help us to recognize
and deepen the various places at which our traditions converge and bring
us together. As in Christianity, Mary is
held up in Islam as an example of faith in God: "to those who believe,
God has set an example in Mary, who preserved her chastity ... who put
her trust in the words of her Lord and his scriptures and was one of the
truly devout" ("Prohibition" LXVI:12).

Mary is a symbol of the feminine principle in God?s plan for salvation.
This same principle is found in all religions. Theological discourse is
increasingly concerned with the integration of this dimension of faith
in God (see "Mulieris Dignitatem"). This is one reason
why the deepening of Mariological studies is one of the important areas
of theological research at this time (VMISF, No. 15). The study of other
religions can help in the illumination of this principle in Christian
discourse. Hinduism, for example, is replete with
such reflection and the feminine dimension is strongly expressed in the
Hindu pantheon.

Collaboration

But beyond this, interreligious dialogue is expressed in cooperation. In
a multicultural world faced with increasing moral confusion, good people
from all religious traditions should work together to preserve religious
values which militate against greed, violence
and selfishness. In South Africa, people of different faith traditions
are currently collaborating in a program for the moral reconstruction in
our country. Mary is a model of these values for all of us and we can
all call upon her prayers for a better world in which
to bring up future generations.